Jon Ruben, 76, from Ruddington, Nottinghamshire, drugged his wife with Temazepam so she wouldn’t wake up while he sexually abused boys at summer camp after playing ‘sweet game’
A summer camp leader who drugged sweets to sexually abuse young boys has been branded a “sadistic, monstrous paedophile” by his wife as he was jailed for 23 years.
Jon Ruben, a former vet, exploited the “cloak of Christianity” to prey on his “vulnerable” victims. His wife, Susan Ruben, was also drugged by the 76-year-old to ensure she remained asleep during his assaults. Speaking at Leicester Crown Court, she expressed her sense of utter betrayal.
She said: “He spent decades trying to paint a picture that he was a righteous, honourable man, when he was actually a sadistic, monstrous paedophile.”
The mothers of the boys abused by Ruben delivered heart-wrenching victim impact statements at his sentencing hearing on Friday. One revealed their child had turned to self-harm after discovering what had happened to them.
Another mother addressed the defendant directly, saying: “I actually want you to f****** die. You deserve it. You’ve ruined the lives of these children. You could have killed a child.
“I want you to suffer every day.”
Ruben spiked sweets with tranquilising drugs and assaulted two children last year, following a “a sweet game” with the youngsters at a summer camp at Stathern Lodge, in Stathern, Leicestershire.
In November, he admitted sexually assaulting a child under 13, assaulting a child under 13 by penetration, eight counts of child cruelty, three counts of creating indecent images of children, and four drug-related charges.
He later admitted to administering a harmful substance – temazepam – to Mrs Ruben last summer to ensure she remained unconscious while he sexually assaulted the children.
During the sentencing hearing, prosecutor Mary Prior KC jailed him for 23 years and 10 months. She laid out the facts of the case, stating: “Over many years he was a trusted leader of the community and abused his status and position of trust to derive sexual pleasure from young boys.
“His offences, Your Honour, are controlled. They involve planning and significant preparation. His choice to retrain later in life gave him access to prepubescent children.”
Ms Prior further revealed: “Using the knowledge he gained as a veterinary surgeon, the defendant refined the use of sedatives to facilitate sexual offending on children, and vulnerable children at that.”
Ruben, residing at Wayte Court in Ruddington, Nottinghamshire, was apprehended in July last year after a total of eight children were hospitalised and liquid Xanax was discovered to have been administered to some of the victims.
Concerns were raised by Ruben’s stepson during the camp after he found baby oil, syringes filled with white powder, and other suspicious items.
Outlining the shocking events of that weekend, Ms Prior declared: “The defendant used his cloak of Christianity and his position of authority and trust to poison 10 boys aged between eight and 11 years of age in order to sexually abuse them.”
Multiple youngsters had become unwell after participating in the so-called sweet game and were spotted the following morning “walking into walls and in the wrong direction”.
Ms Prior revealed: “The boys suffered sickness, drowsiness, instability and stomach pain when they awoke.”
The twisted game required the children to chew and swallow three sweets that they had unwrapped beforehand, the court was told.
Ms Prior explained: “The quickest one to eat all three sweets won a prize.
“The defendant knew that the ingestion of the sweets caused sickness, drowsiness, unsteadiness and amnesia.”
Ruben, who had operated the holiday camp for at least 27 years, tried to disrupt the sentencing hearing by yelling “no” after Ms Prior informed the court he had violated his own safeguarding regulations.
Judge Timothy Spencer KC warned Ruben that he was not permitted to shout out and that he did not wish to hear him cry out again from the dock.
“I’m sorry, Your Honour, I’m sorry,” the defendant pleaded from the dock, as he wept and covered his face with his hand.
Ms Prior stated the assaults on the children were “premeditated and planned” following his purchase of drugs on the dark web. The prosecutor went on to say: “The defendant illegally purchased sedatives which, having carefully researched the quantity he needed, using his skill set as a vet to equate the amount needed to sedate animals, he crushed and injected into specially chosen very sweet, very sticky sweets.”
Images of a “chocolate poisoning chart” owned by Ruben were presented in court, illustrating the required dosage of the drug for a child, an adult, a large dog and a small dog.
Ms Prior explained that the defendant used tramadol for arthritis, adding: “For the avoidance of doubt, it does not cause a person to become sexually interested in children.”
The court was informed that Ruben brought with him to the summer camp a bag containing baby oil, Vaseline and other items to “assist him in offending”.
He “carefully chose” the boys, whom he placed in the rooms closest to his bedroom and away from the other rooms, Ms Prior stated.
Ruben also previously confessed to indecent images charges related to 50 category A indecent videos of children, 22 category B videos, and seven category C videos made between August 2023 and June last year.
None of the images concerned relate to children who were at the summer camp.
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